True shrimp are small, swimming crustaceans classified
in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both
fresh and salt water.

Lots of kinds of shrimp: A number of more or less unrelated crustaceans also have the word "shrimp" in their common name. Examples are the mantis shrimp and the opposum or mysid shrimp, both of which belong to the same class as the true shrimp, but constitute two different orders within it.

Shrimp are distinguished from the superficially similar prawns by the structure of the gills, and by the fact that female shrimp brood the eggs on their pleopods. There is, however, much confusion between the two, especially among non-specialists, and many shrimp are called "prawns" and many prawns are called "shrimp". This is particularly widespread in culinary contexts.

The shrimp genus Physetocaris, previously given its own superfamily (Physetocaridoidea) and family (Physetocarididae), has been merged with the family Pandalidae.

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